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Curtain Call

We are counting down the last couple days before Super-Duper Tuesday, and as if you needed another reminder, the state of California is ground zero for all the candidates in this hotly contested primary election day.

Just a few weeks ago, former President Bill Clinton stumped for wife Hillary at UC Davis and the San Francisco Bay Area. He's coming back to the Central Valley one more time before Tuesday's elections, this time speaking at an event at the Cal Expo grounds in Sacramento at 11:45 a.m.

Again:
Who: Bill Clinton
Where: Cal Expo Sacramento, "Building D"
Why: Stumping for Hillary Clinton
How much: Free and open the the public
When: 11:45 a.m. Monday, Feb. 4

If you're really into it, you can follow Bill down to the Univ. of the Pacific in Stockton where he's expected to make another stump speech at 2:00 p.m. After that, he's rumored to swing by the San Francisco Bay Area for a speech at San Francisco State University later on that evening. Details from the Hillary campaign were still being etched out at the time of this writing.

It certainly was a busy weekend for the Golden State:

Friday: Hillary Clinton dropped by San Jose State Univ. and spoke at the Orpheum Theater in San Francisco. KGO-TV video here: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=5930450

Sen. Ted Kennedy campaigned for Obama in Oakland. Video here: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=5930531

Saturday: Sen. John Kerry spoke in San Francisco and San Jose to pump Obama supporters up while Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Hillary and Bill, stumped for mom over at Mills College in Oakland: Video from ABC 7: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/local&id=5931891

Hillary was in LA and Obama supporters held a wild rally. From KABC-TV: http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/channel?section=news/politics&id=5750053

Sunday: Michelle Obama is at San Jose State University tonight speaking on behalf of her husband. Meanwhile, Oprah Winfrey and California First Lady Maria Shriver campaigned for Obama in LA earlier today. It was a surprise endorsement for the Illinois senator from Shriver, who waited until the last minute to throw her support behind a candidate.


- Tim Jue, NBC News Reporter

San Francisco-adverse

President George W. Bush made a brief whirlwind appearance in the Bay Area last night to attend a private Republican National Committee fundraiser in a well-to-do suburb of San Francisco and he made good on his unofficial policy of never setting foot within San Francisco city limits during his presidency.

Still, that didn't keep other Republicans from campaigning in SF today. Mike Huckabee stopped by to speak at the Commonwealth Club in the city, and Mitt Romney is getting ready to unleash a television advertising blitz in the San Francisco Bay Area market (Sacramento too). John McCain had to cancel his trip to Northern California today after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger decided to endorse the Arizona Senator in Los Angeles this morning.

Take a look at video from Huckabee's Commonwealth Club speech from KGO-TV in San Francisco: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/politics&id=5928070

In it, you'll see Code Pink protesters interrupt the GOP candidate midway through his speech.

Sidenote: The President who has visited San Francisco the most during his tenure in the White House: Bill Clinton, who has dropped by a record 23 times.

-- Tim Jue, NBC News Reporter

Endorsement Mania

Endorsements have been a hot topic here in the 2008 primary elections with everyone talking about who is endorsing whom. Almost any endorsement imaginable has been seen and endorsements have been made by everyone from celebrities to congressmen. For your convenience, we have listed some of the notable candidate endorsements here. Enjoy!


Huckabee: Chuck Norris
McCain: Syllvestor Stallone, Guiliani, Arnold Schwarzenegger, New York Times
Obama: Edward Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, John Kerry, Oprah Winfrey, George Clooney, Toni Morrison, New York Post, SF Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News
Clinton: New York Times, Martha Stewart, Jerry Springer, 50 cent, Dolores Huerta and the UFW (United Farm Workers)
Romney: Quite a few people in the conservative wing of the Republican party, The Oakland Press
Ron Paul: The Muslim Observer

-Kerren Schlank, NBC News Reporter

Praying for Votes?

It's a seldom used tactic from the campaign toolbox, but Republican Presidential hopeful Erica Huckabee delivered a lengthy prayer yesterday on the Univ. of California Davis campus. In it, she made no references to the political campaign underway, and focused on her deep Southern Baptist roots in a puzzling news event that left voters wondering whether Huckabee was taking the contentious race for the White House that has seen two candidates already drop out today seriously.

Let's let you decide. Here's the sermon in its entirety:

Thank you, UC Davis for inviting me here to grow with you all in the Word of God.

As always, it is an honor to share the Lord’s word with so many young people.

This is an incredible campus attended by passionate and intelligent young adults.

I applaud you on all your accomplishments, but I would also like to extend to you some advice: Remember that in life, Faith, Family, and Freedom are the most important.

Focus on these three aspects of your life and everything else will follow.

My campaign is driven by these three fundamental aspects of life.

In the Bible, there is a story of three courageous young men who stood by their faith unwaveringly and because of that, they changed the face of an entire kingdom. Does anyone know I’m talking about?

I’m talking about Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego; the three young men who King Nebuchadnezzar threw into a fiery furnace and came out without a singe. It’s an amazing story, the young men were thrown into a fire because they would not betray their faith and bow down to a statue of the king. Now that’s faith…and courage. I find that most people change depending on what is more convenient at the time. But I want to set an example for the people of this nation to stick to their faith, whatever that may mean to them. You see, I am a Christian. But like Jesus, I do not believe that faith and religion should be imposed on anyone. It is the reason why God chose to give us free will, we can choose for ourselves. And as I have said before, I want to put the “candid” back in candidate. I’m being honest about who I am, even though the liberals have tried to use it against me. And I respect those who are honest about who they are. I respect an honest atheist more than a two-faced Christian.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were men of high caliber; that’s how I want this nation to be: Strong, courageous, and Faithful in the face of all adversity. This is why we need to keep fighting the War on Terror. It is time for the great U.S. of A. to show the world that we are honorable, courageous, and faithful people and that we are certain of the Lord’s merciful deliverance and protection. We need to keep supporting our troops, wherever they go for they are representing and protecting the people of America! And just as God sent an angel to protect the three young men, so will God protect America.

Let’s keep looking at the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These three young men knew the right way to go. While they were imprisoned along with Daniel for again, they did something that I wish that all of America would do. And that is to eat healthy. *laughter* Yes, it sounds funny, but it’s a serious issue here in America. People seem to have forgotten that gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins and are not taking care of themselves. While in prison, the four young men refused to eat anything that would affect their health adversely, in fact, all they ate were bread, fruits, vegetables, and water! Now I am not saying that everyone should be a vegetarian, but I am suggesting that people eat more healthily. So many Americans are suffering from heart diseases, liver diseases, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, and the list goes on and on. I myself suffer from diabetes! But you know what? With the help of God and my family by my side I was able to lose 110 pounds and complete 4 marathons! But why wait until we’re sick to be healthy? I am pushing for preventative health! We need to take care of ourselves, for our bodies are the temple of God.

We also need to take care of our environment and our children. God created humanity to hold the role of stewards over the earth. But greed has led us into abusing the earth, taking up resources without any thought to the future. It’s time we become energy efficient and stop being so dependent on oil. And what of our children? Why is it that the children of one of the greatest nations are not receiving the education they deserve? Jesus said, “Let the children come to me; do not stop them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” They are our hope for the future. We need to give them the education that will allow them to be the best citizens they can be.

I hope that together, with the guiding of hand of God, we can uplift this nation of ours. Through faith, family and freedom, I implore you all to be steadfast in your beliefs. Be like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. And don’t forget that the future of our nation rests with you.

Let us pray.

Dear heavenly father,

We are all here asking for your guidance. May you be our pillar of strength, may you protect us from all evil. Lord, we ask that you gives us strength, courage, and faith to follow you in all that we do. I pray for the youth of this nation, for our troops all over the world, may you be with them and bless them. Father, we know that with you all is possible. It is in your hands that I put my campaign. If it in your will for me to be president, let it be so. Let your holy will be done oh, Father. We love you and ask for your blessings. We ask that you help us uplift America!

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Peace be with you all.

North vs. South?

It certainly isn't my goal to start a war between Northern and Southern California, but this is sure to roil some feathers come next Tuesday.

The state as a whole stands to play a pivotal role in deciding who our next President will be. There are a whopping 441 Democratic delegates up for grabs and 173 delegates at stake to be distributed amongst the winning GOP candidates. For once, California counts.

But for the Dems: the San Francisco Chronicle's Phil Matier and Andy Ross point out in their column, it may come down to the "beer-drinking Democrats" versus its "wine and cheese" liberals to decide whether it'll be Hillary or Barack.

They write:

Pollster Mark DiCamillo, who has been taking the state's political pulse for 30 years, describes the beer vote as mostly blue-collar workers, the elderly and ethnic Democrats, especially Latinos, in the Los Angeles area and rural parts of the state.

The more liberal, more educated, wine-and-cheese crowd congregates here in the Bay Area, where more than a quarter of the ballots will be cast in the Democratic primary Feb. 5, he says.

And as DiCamillo sees it, the blue-collar group likes Clinton and the wine-and-cheesers go more for Obama.

"If Obama has any chance of winning California, we should see it here in the Bay Area," DiCamillo said. "And he'll have to be winning here by double digits" - no easy task, considering the Clintons' long popularity in the area.

So the voters that'll probably decide who will get the state's hundreds of delegate votes will most likely live in the heavily Democratic San Francisco Bay Area -- where, there is virtually no evidence of a Republican campaign anywhere. There aren't any campaign offices for any of the major candidates, and the TV airwaves are strangely void of any Presidential hopeful ads other than those for the Democratic candidates.

Chris Lehane, a surrogate for the Clinton campaign in California, is already predicting that "the crazy Bay Area is going to pick the next president."

Stay tuned.

-- Tim Jue, NBC News Reporter